Apple is looking to collaborate with Google on a mega deal to leverage the Gemini AI model for features on the iPhone, Bloomberg reported. This will put Google in a leadership position as the company already has a deal with Apple as the preferred search engine provider on iPhones for the Safari browser.
The publication quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Apple is looking to license AI technology from Google to offer AI-powered features with iOS updates later this year. In addition, the company has also been in discussions with OpenAI to potentially use GPT models, Bloomberg said.
There is increasing pressure on Apple to catch up with AI competitors like OpenAI, Microsoft, Anthropic, and even Google. In February, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company would introduce Gen-AI features “later this year.”
The company's job listings over the past year have indicated that Apple is working on multiple internal and external tools powered by generative AI. However, talks about leveraging third-party AI technology have meant that Apple has not progressed as expected with its own AI efforts.
Apple's own models may power some of the on-device features in the upcoming iOS 18 software update — expected to be announced at the historically held Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. However, the company is exploring partnering with a third-party provider for generative AI use cases such as creating images and helping users write.
Google has had its own set of problems with Gemini. Last month, the company had to pause its image generation feature after a model created images with inaccurate information. Google CEO Sundar Pichai later said Gemini's responses were “completely unacceptable.” Last week, Google said it was blocking election-related queries on Gemini worldwide. But TechCrunch found that users can get around these limitations by entering typos in some queries.
Despite these declines, Google has an advantage in launching smartphone-related features. Earlier this year, the company partnered with Samsung to bring Gemini-powered AI features to the Galaxy S24 series devices. The search giant has also launched these features on its Pixel series of phones.
We've reached out to Apple and Google for comment, and will update the story if we hear back from them.
